Wise Counsel From The Present

Welcome To Reality

By Jim Aquila

Relationships are like a dance, with visible energy
Racing back and forth between the partners.
Some relationships are the slow, dark dance of death.
-Colette Dowling

The Dance of Life

Filtering fearful defenses

Whatever we call this filter, it becomes a barrier between ourselves, and the wealth of information that begs to be released through our five senses, sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. All of which become windows of opportunity, in which our senses invite us to experience our lives fully. I firmly believe that this is one of the most difficult lessons that we are asked to learn. The scripture passage, "Verily I say unto you, except ye become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven," Luke 18:17, is quite an eye opener for those who have opportunity to observe little children and their behavior. We can come to a realistic conclusion that they have a much better grasp of reality than adults. With little children there are no defenses to alter what their senses perceive. You are who you are to them. They view everything as new and they accept this newness without need to be filtered through the preconceived notions and biases of others. This un-buffered connection invites us to be as open and fluid as little children. In addition, when we are in a state of denial it limits our own spiritual nature, which causes us to become static and not more open and fluid.


One of the gifts of Native Americans is their intimacy with the natural world. For example, they use ritual and vision quests to discover the "animal" that most emulates their desired behavior. From an early age, they learn and eventually incorporate the animal's characteristics into their psyches. These are not heathen rituals as some would say because in doing so they are expanding their vision, learning to call on others for help and strengths that may otherwise remain dormant, just seeds of potential.

Now, if this new behavior turns your world upside down, prying you out of your box of denial in order to see and experience life from another's point of view, then you are destined to remain in a world of having to say I'm sorry for your every behavior.  You will not know the joy of empathy.  You will subject your self to a small uninformed state, eventually becoming paralyzed and fearful to any inner challenges simply because it may rearrange your habitual patterns- that many call addictions. However, if we commit ourselves to practicing empathetic behavior, eventually it will become a natural inclination to be open and truthful.

For the sake of clarification, an addiction does not necessarily mean just the abuse of a one or more substances, but also includes any thought, action or behavior that is regularly repeated without concern of the consequences that thought or action may bring upon their self or others.

In this broad definition, we can include the addiction to love, to knowledge, even the addiction of attending meetings at the expense of our personal needs or the needs of our family. Yes, even the emotion of FEAR can be addictive. For each addiction, you pay the price in loss of happiness and clarity in life.

As addictive behavior continues, the walls that protect your body begin to crack… those inner walls of the mind and spirit- eventually the hammering effect picks away at our armor and will lead to chronic over-stimulation of our nervous system, suppression of our immunity, and literally cause adrenal exhaustion. However, in our physical and mental confusion there is a wonderful thing that happens. There is an involuntary dismantling process where the mind and body has reached an impasse (rock-bottom so to speak), and survival takes over. At this point, the mind and the body reduces its headlong race into oblivion. What a wonderful process this is because there is no greater tragedy in life than hiding behind or pretending to be something that we are not, or living a life that is less than our full potential. If we are living a life that is untrue to spiritual values, the Spirit of God will not let us rest until we step back onto our true course.

The time comes when we can no longer find refuge in our defenses. Because of our challenges, we discover that it is our defenses, our fear factor that keeps us in darkness! We tire of straining to protect ourselves, and we feel stifled and restricted by the walls we have built between our hearts and those around us. This is where fear of discovery takes over. The fears we keep locked in our heart is not worth the love we lose in hiding. We cannot afford to maintain a life of fear at the cost of peace. In our efforts to keep pain away from our heart, we have also denied entry of joy into our lives. The moment arrives when we must break free and take a stand for who we are. That moment is now. The time has come to cast aside our cloak of smallness and put on the robe, which honors our true spiritual nature. We must claim the strength to live in the dignity befitting our identity.

We may even use the affirmation- "I free myself from the security, sensation, and power of addictions that make me control situations in my life that destroys my thinking and keeps me from loving myself and others."

The choice of accepting happiness and living a life of joy is an internal choice, not the result of our external circumstance. It is our internal emotional programming that must be changed. The wonderful thing is that it is fully within your ability to do so- whereas up to now you have been hopelessly trying to manipulate the outside world to conform to your compulsive behavior and then spend your time making choices on a preference basis - that being - 'What's in it for me."

It is my prayer that you have seen value in this article to motivate you into action and begin to express that inner beauty that we all possess. Please find time to visit with me.  You are most welcome to do so. -30

 

 
FEAR and GUILT ARE NOTHING MORE THAN TRUTH-DECAY-

Fear creates limitations and is the killer of creativity.  Fear breeds guilt.  Fear is a short-term motivator and makes people take risks based on that fear.  Fear is at the root of self-imposed limitations. It is a challenge to recognize manipulative, dominate and control behavior and thereby eliminate it as negative communication.

Fear lies and manipulates everyone.  Fear inhibits us from facing challenges.  Fear clogs us with guilt, perpetuates the cycle of worry, and lets the imagination run widely out of control.  Fear distorts reality and focuses on imagined obstacles and problems.  Many of us think that logic, will power, or that conscious reasoning can overcome fear.  If only it were that simple.

 

IT TAKES ALL KINDS

There are all kinds of fears that overwhelm a person: fear of the future, of the unknown, illness, death, accidents, failure, relationships, etc. The stress from these adversarial elements can become overwhelming, so that one may even despair of life itself. It is a well known factor of life, that the majority of organic diseases are produced by the inability of people to adequately handle the stress in their lives.

The second great element of life, that adversely affects us, is that of guilt. God has given to each of us a conscience (Romans 1:19), to act as a guide to our behaviors so that we follow the proper principles of life, and when we deviate from them our conscience guides us back into the right way. Everyone has an intuitive understanding of what is right and wrong. That concept can be further developed by proper parental guidance, so that as one's character is molded he may exercise self restraint and discipline to do that which is right. Or, the lack of proper parental guidance may develop within a child the selfish desire to live a self centered life, devoid of the restraints of conscience, and thereby continue to do the wrong things in life

The first step to turn fear into positive power is to accept full responsibility for your choices, behavior, and the reality of what you now have in your life. The second step is to have the courage to acknowledge and examine your fears. One of the greatest fears is the fear of change. When you are able to deal with the fear of change you are able to continuously reinvent, renew and live life with passion.

 

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